All Pawtucket All The Time

Liz Limones and Ricky Vides, Lasallian Volunteers talking about their work at Tides Family Service

On Wednesday, October 14, Saint Raphael Academy held its annual Faith, Service, and Community Day for the Freshmen Class.  The day consisted of presentations, workshops and activities in which students learned and experienced the mission and ministry of the Founder of the De La Salle Christian Schools, Saint John Baptiste De La Salle.

The day began with a presentation by principal, Michael Sweeney about Lasallian schools and their mission, and a prayer service that included a witness talk by Tom Coderre, Saint Raphael Academy, class of 1987.

5 workshops were offered: Carol Owens, Respect Life Coordinator, Diocese of Providence spoke about the 7 Key Themes of Catholic Social Teaching; Rick Forest from the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen spoke about Hunger; Sue Jarosz, executive director of the Woonsocket Homeless Shelter shared information about  homelessness; Kerri Stenovitch, Operator of Phantom Farms and a Saint Ray’s graduate talked about sustainable farming and environmental issues; and Ricky Vides and Liz Limones, Lasallian volunteers at Tides Family Service, shared their experiences working with teens and their families.

Rick Forest, a volunteer at the Pawtucket Soup Kitchen, talking about Hunger.

The afternoon featured speaker Kevin Regan who spoke about Peace and introduced an activity for Lasallian World Peace Day.  This was followed by a neighborhood clean-up and a concluding prayer service led by Academy Chaplin, Father Daniel Sweet.